REVIEWS JOHANNES WOHNSEIFER
JOHANNES
WOHNSEIFER:
RECENT SEX slash.cap
LOVE WORKS
JOHANN KÖNIG, BERLIN
9 MARCH – 21 APRIL
Untitled (2007), the central piece of this exhibition
by Johannes Wohnseifer, is a series of 20 paper
collages, each consisting of three photographs or
other pieces of paper in a frame. They seem to be
a collection of visual aphorisms and poems, rhyming
in colour or form. One consists of photographs of a
crane, a bike and an aeroplane, all with a part painted
in a distinctive red; another brings together a black-
and-white photograph of a bird sitting on wires, a
colour photograph of the central letters of a Toyota
company sign and a black-and-white advertising
image for a swimsuit that sports on its front two
circles and a diamond shape (resembling the ‘oyo’ in
‘Toyota’). In yet another of these collages, a piece of
light green paper with the text ‘Hate pass strict tests’
is complemented by the photograph of a scooter
of the same colour on a zebra crossing and that of
a railing in the sun throwing a shadow like a drawing
on the ground. Wohnseifer puts together that which
attracts his attention, using images like notes, and
occasionally there are even some autobiographical
references. One of the collages shows a piece of
paper with cut-outs of his signature, perhaps as it has
developed over time, a photograph of a bike whose
frame is marked ‘WHNSEIFER’ and a picture of rural scenery. Thus the piece purports to be a refi ned version Beyoncé Painting, 2007,
of a visual diary, an assumption supported by the form of several versions of this piece as handmade books. perforated, powder-coated aluminium, wall paint, 140
Wohnseifer’s overall theme is the phenomenology of everyday life. He explores the appearances of x 100 cm. Courtesy Johann König, Berlin
objects and establishes visual connections among them. He perceives surface as meaning and plays with
superfi cial manifestations. Mirror Men (2007) is a grey perspex version of the Siemens logo, in which the three
letters forming the word ‘men’ are covered in mirror foil. It functions as a powerful one-liner on corporate
culture, as a reminder of male domination and vanity in business af_f airs. Similarly, the perspex piece Bigger
Defl oration (2006) is the shape of the missing bite in the Apple logo, seemingly recalling the company’s less-
commercial past.
Despite the show’s title, there is little sex or love to be seen or perceived. There is nothing raw or
emotional in these works. The occasional use of a line from a spam email doesn’t make the point, and the
light piece Permanent Full Moon (2007), which remains lit every day of the month but that of the actual full
moon, is only just on the romantic radar. Even the series of Beyoncé Paintings (2007), images of a scantily clad
Beyoncé Knowles downloaded from the Internet, enlarged and displayed behind perforated sheets of painted
aluminium, does not seem at all sexual. They are clever meditations on the mediation of popular imagery,
pixelated images that obscure the original while bringing them to the attention of the viewer, and turning the
medium into an object of desire at the same time. But sexy it ain’t. Axel Lapp
ARTREVIEW one.linthree.linsix.lin
p123-137 Reviews AR May07.indd 136 28/3/07 05:36:35
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128 Page 129 Page 130 Page 131 Page 132 Page 133 Page 134 Page 135 Page 136 Page 137 Page 138 Page 139 Page 140 Page 141 Page 142 Page 143 Page 144 Page 145 Page 146 Page 147 Page 148 Page 149 Page 150 Page 151 Page 152 Page 153 Page 154 Page 155 Page 156 Page 157 Page 158 Page 159 Page 160 Page 161 Page 162 Page 163 Page 164 Page 165